Working climate at UF not good, union survey finds

Published: Saturday, June 8, 2013 at 6:01 a.m.

Last Modified: Friday, June 7, 2013 at 9:57 p.m.

Swamped by paperwork, mistrustful of an administration seen as unresponsive, frustrated by a lack of communication and fearful of voicing dissent, University of Florida faculty are an unhappy lot, according to a first-ever survey by the United Faculty of Florida.

Facts

On the other hand, the survey results show, the faculty overwhelmingly agree they are free to pursue their own research and enjoy a great deal of academic freedom in the classroom. Yet the faculty members are nearly evenly divided on whether they feel free to voice opposition to the administration.

The UFF-UF Faculty Climate Survey of 2013, released on its website June 1, received responses from 635 faculty in 10 different colleges and departments — 40 percent of the 1,670 faculty members covered by the collective bargaining agreement.

Noting the high response rate, UFF-UF President John Biro said, "It does indicate the faculty is interested and concerned about the climate on campus, their work and how they are supported by the administration."

UF spokeswoman Janine Sikes noted that the survey did not take into account 3,012 other faculty on campus — those who are not covered by the collective bargaining agreement. Professors in the Levin College of Law and health sciences are not represented by collective bargaining, and were not a part of the survey.

"The university is currently involved in negotiating a new contract with UFF and is not aware of any issues on the table that would be impacted by this survey," Sikes said.

Any other questions about the survey, she said, should be directed to the faculty union.

"It's not our survey. We were not involved in the questions, and it hasn't been formally presented to us," Sikes said. "If they choose to share it, we will deal with it at that point."

Biro said the survey is separate from ongoing negotiations but that he hopes the administration will find the survey results insightful.

"It is intended to be informative to everyone concerned," he said. "Faculty should feel important, consulted and supported."

Respondents were asked whether they agreed or disagreed with 20 statements about the administration, collective bargaining, tenure, shared governance, academic freedom, the working climate and allocation of resources.

They were given six options: strongly agree or disagree, somewhat agree or disagree, neutral, or unable to judge.

Overall, the respondents expressed concern about their work being supported by the administration, a lack of accountability and confidence, and an uneven distribution of resources.

They expressed a mostly negative working climate between administration and faculty and a lack of clear communication about administrative decisions and strategies.

The two largest and most critical groups were the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the College of Engineering — both of which faced major cutbacks in the previous five years. Those two colleges combined accounted for 61 percent of the survey's respondents.

The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences faced $5.9 million in budget cuts last year alone and has been dealing with a crippling hiring freeze even as class sizes grow. Forty-one percent of its faculty — 265 teachers — responded to the survey, mostly in the negative:

Sixty-nine percent felt their work and the department's were not supported by the administration.

Seventy percent or more felt there was no clear communication or good flow of information from the administration and that the process of shared government wasn't working.

Eighty percent disagreed that the administration was accountable, and 70 percent disagreed there was a good working relationship with the administration.

Eighty-five percent disagreed that the allocation of resources was well balanced.

More than half said collective bargaining rights and faculty handbook regulations were not upheld or respected.

On the other hand, close to 80 percent agreed they were free to pursue the research of their choice and teach in the classroom what they wanted.

The College of Engineering with 121, or 42 percent, of its faculty responding, posted similar results. Nearly 60 percent disagreed that the administration supported their work, and more than 70 percent felt information and communication from the administration was inadequate and that shared governance wasn't working. Seventy-two percent said there was no balanced allocation of resources, and 67 percent said there was too much paperwork.

Nonetheless, 74 percent said they were free to pursue research and had academic freedom. And 60 percent said they were not free to voice their dissent.

Oscar Crisalle, a chemical engineering professor and faculty senate member for six years, said the problem isn't that the administration had to make tough decisions, but that it excluded faculty from participating in making those decisions.

Notably, 68 percent of the faculty responding reported a lack of confidence in Dean Cammy Abernathy's performance and leadership, while 62 percent reported a lack of confidence in Provost John Glover, who appointed Abernathy in 2009.

"It all comes down to the management philosophy of the dean," Crisalle said. "It is a top-down management style that does not welcome input from diverse voices."

He said the dean is not "transparent in her dealings" and doesn't share information.

For example, faculty were kept in the dark until the last minute about plans to dismantle the Computer Information Sciences Engineering Department last year, Crisalle said. Also, he said, Abernathy has not shared the college's budget with the faculty council until now.

The College of Fine Arts had the highest response rate with 55 of its faculty, or 58 percent, responding. Their responses more or less fell in line with the Liberal Arts and Engineering colleges on administrative support, paperwork, academic freedom, communication and confidence. But a full 95 percent felt the allocation of resources was unbalanced.

The College of Design, Construction and Planning's 23 faculty members who responded — 35 percent — followed trends similar to the liberal arts, engineering, and fine arts peers.

The College of Journalism had a 53 percent response rate, with 20 faculty turning in surveys.

A question about freedom to dissent with administrative policies drew split results at most of the colleges — but 60 percent of engineering faculty and 58 percent of library science teachers felt they were not free to voice their disapproval.

Participation in the survey was lower at the College of Education and College of Business Administration. Only 30 percent of the College of Education faculty — 55 teachers — responded to the survey. Only 25 percent or 27 Business Administration faculty responded.

More education professors were critical on issues of information, communication, confidence, accountability and working climate. Business faculty were less critical toward administration in those areas, but two-thirds felt there was a lack of accountability.

Library sciences faculty also tended to be more moderate or less severe in their criticism, given that administration closed two branch libraries to make up for revenue shortfalls.

Fifty-eight percent of library sciences' 24 respondents out of nearly 100 faculty members agreed that administration supported their work and felt paperwork was adequate and justified. They were critical on issues of shared governance, communication, information, resource allocation, accountability and climate.

Florida Museum of Natural History faculty represented the one real outlier in the survey. Of the seven respondents, representing 28 percent of the faculty, 85 percent agreed the administration supported their efforts and felt they had freedom to voice dissent.

All the faculty said they enjoyed freedom to pursue research of their choice, and 85 percent said they had academic freedom in the classroom.

Two-thirds said administration was accountable and had a good working climate with faculty. Eighty-three percent had confidence that administration was heading in the right direction.

The union plans to analyze the data and have several meetings over the summer to talk about the results and the written comments, which are not being released publicly, Biro said.

"I don't want to give any interpretation because it is a complicated matter," Biro said. "We just want to put out the raw data for you or anybody else to draw your own conclusions."

<p>Swamped by paperwork, mistrustful of an administration seen as unresponsive, frustrated by a lack of communication and fearful of voicing dissent, University of Florida faculty are an unhappy lot, according to a first-ever survey by the United Faculty of Florida.</p><p>On the other hand, the survey results show, the faculty overwhelmingly agree they are free to pursue their own research and enjoy a great deal of academic freedom in the classroom. Yet the faculty members are nearly evenly divided on whether they feel free to voice opposition to the administration.</p><p>The UFF-UF Faculty Climate Survey of 2013, released on its website June 1, received responses from 635 faculty in 10 different colleges and departments — 40 percent of the 1,670 faculty members covered by the collective bargaining agreement.</p><p>Noting the high response rate, UFF-UF President John Biro said, "It does indicate the faculty is interested and concerned about the climate on campus, their work and how they are supported by the administration."</p><p>UF spokeswoman Janine Sikes noted that the survey did not take into account 3,012 other faculty on campus — those who are not covered by the collective bargaining agreement. Professors in the Levin College of Law and health sciences are not represented by collective bargaining, and were not a part of the survey.</p><p>"The university is currently involved in negotiating a new contract with UFF and is not aware of any issues on the table that would be impacted by this survey," Sikes said.</p><p>Any other questions about the survey, she said, should be directed to the faculty union.</p><p>"It's not our survey. We were not involved in the questions, and it hasn't been formally presented to us," Sikes said. "If they choose to share it, we will deal with it at that point."</p><p>Biro said the survey is separate from ongoing negotiations but that he hopes the administration will find the survey results insightful.</p><p>"It is intended to be informative to everyone concerned," he said. "Faculty should feel important, consulted and supported."</p><p>Respondents were asked whether they agreed or disagreed with 20 statements about the administration, collective bargaining, tenure, shared governance, academic freedom, the working climate and allocation of resources.</p><p>They were given six options: strongly agree or disagree, somewhat agree or disagree, neutral, or unable to judge.</p><p>Overall, the respondents expressed concern about their work being supported by the administration, a lack of accountability and confidence, and an uneven distribution of resources.</p><p>They expressed a mostly negative working climate between administration and faculty and a lack of clear communication about administrative decisions and strategies.</p><p>The two largest and most critical groups were the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the College of Engineering — both of which faced major cutbacks in the previous five years. Those two colleges combined accounted for 61 percent of the survey's respondents.</p><p>The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences faced $5.9 million in budget cuts last year alone and has been dealing with a crippling hiring freeze even as class sizes grow. Forty-one percent of its faculty — 265 teachers — responded to the survey, mostly in the negative:</p><p>Sixty-nine percent felt their work and the department's were not supported by the administration.</p><p>Seventy percent or more felt there was no clear communication or good flow of information from the administration and that the process of shared government wasn't working.</p><p>Eighty percent disagreed that the administration was accountable, and 70 percent disagreed there was a good working relationship with the administration.</p><p>Eighty-five percent disagreed that the allocation of resources was well balanced.</p><p>More than half said collective bargaining rights and faculty handbook regulations were not upheld or respected.</p><p>On the other hand, close to 80 percent agreed they were free to pursue the research of their choice and teach in the classroom what they wanted.</p><p>The College of Engineering with 121, or 42 percent, of its faculty responding, posted similar results. Nearly 60 percent disagreed that the administration supported their work, and more than 70 percent felt information and communication from the administration was inadequate and that shared governance wasn't working. Seventy-two percent said there was no balanced allocation of resources, and 67 percent said there was too much paperwork.</p><p>Nonetheless, 74 percent said they were free to pursue research and had academic freedom. And 60 percent said they were not free to voice their dissent.</p><p>Oscar Crisalle, a chemical engineering professor and faculty senate member for six years, said the problem isn't that the administration had to make tough decisions, but that it excluded faculty from participating in making those decisions.</p><p>Notably, 68 percent of the faculty responding reported a lack of confidence in Dean Cammy Abernathy's performance and leadership, while 62 percent reported a lack of confidence in Provost John Glover, who appointed Abernathy in 2009.</p><p>"It all comes down to the management philosophy of the dean," Crisalle said. "It is a top-down management style that does not welcome input from diverse voices."</p><p>He said the dean is not "transparent in her dealings" and doesn't share information.</p><p>For example, faculty were kept in the dark until the last minute about plans to dismantle the Computer Information Sciences Engineering Department last year, Crisalle said. Also, he said, Abernathy has not shared the college's budget with the faculty council until now.</p><p>The College of Fine Arts had the highest response rate with 55 of its faculty, or 58 percent, responding. Their responses more or less fell in line with the Liberal Arts and Engineering colleges on administrative support, paperwork, academic freedom, communication and confidence. But a full 95 percent felt the allocation of resources was unbalanced.</p><p>The College of Design, Construction and Planning's 23 faculty members who responded — 35 percent — followed trends similar to the liberal arts, engineering, and fine arts peers.</p><p>The College of Journalism had a 53 percent response rate, with 20 faculty turning in surveys.</p><p>A question about freedom to dissent with administrative policies drew split results at most of the colleges — but 60 percent of engineering faculty and 58 percent of library science teachers felt they were not free to voice their disapproval.</p><p>Participation in the survey was lower at the College of Education and College of Business Administration. Only 30 percent of the College of Education faculty — 55 teachers — responded to the survey. Only 25 percent or 27 Business Administration faculty responded.</p><p>More education professors were critical on issues of information, communication, confidence, accountability and working climate. Business faculty were less critical toward administration in those areas, but two-thirds felt there was a lack of accountability.</p><p>Library sciences faculty also tended to be more moderate or less severe in their criticism, given that administration closed two branch libraries to make up for revenue shortfalls.</p><p>Fifty-eight percent of library sciences' 24 respondents out of nearly 100 faculty members agreed that administration supported their work and felt paperwork was adequate and justified. They were critical on issues of shared governance, communication, information, resource allocation, accountability and climate.</p><p>Florida Museum of Natural History faculty represented the one real outlier in the survey. Of the seven respondents, representing 28 percent of the faculty, 85 percent agreed the administration supported their efforts and felt they had freedom to voice dissent.</p><p>All the faculty said they enjoyed freedom to pursue research of their choice, and 85 percent said they had academic freedom in the classroom.</p><p>Two-thirds said administration was accountable and had a good working climate with faculty. Eighty-three percent had confidence that administration was heading in the right direction.</p><p>The union plans to analyze the data and have several meetings over the summer to talk about the results and the written comments, which are not being released publicly, Biro said.</p><p>"I don't want to give any interpretation because it is a complicated matter," Biro said. "We just want to put out the raw data for you or anybody else to draw your own conclusions."</p>